I started this article after finally downing Karn (the “final boss” of Duels of the Planeswalkers) for the first time. Karn’s deck is a brutal artifact deck that in the first game wiped my board with Steel Hellkite’s special ability. That was rough, but fair. The second game, Karn used both a Mox Sapphire and a Tinker. And I now had evidence that Karn was cheating.
After the jump, Karn is cheating. But now, so am I? Continue reading →
A new day is dawning and Sir Digsalot is feelin’ pretty good about all the cool stuff he just found. It’s time to find some corruption to deal with! That means a bit of prep work. I have my grappling hook, but I’ll also need to make a bunch of lesser health potions and convert them to standard health potions. Last but not least: the portable spawn. That means a door and a bed. Any time you venture far from home, it’s a good idea to take a bed, door, and maybe a workbench (though you can always make one later). You can make a little room as a far-from-home spawn to save you a lot of time if you die. Then you use the hammer to pick it back up again when you’re done.
I run to the right all day, past vast deserts and a jungle and steep mountains, then make myself a little safehouse to wile away the night. I can always open the door and kill some stuff with arrows, then shut the door for safety. If I die, no biggie…
After the break, dealing with corruption Continue reading →
You could describe the basic gameplay in Killer 7 as “half-assed shooter”. But the gameplay wasn’t the main draw, so who cares. Shadows of the Damned, the latest game from Killer 7 creator Goichi Suda, feels like what Killer 7 would be if it only consisted of its basic gameplay.
Killer 7 was full of interesting characters. So far, Shadows of the Damned only has one character and calling him interesting would be a stretch. That would suggest I actually know something about him. But I don’t. What’s with all his tattoos? What happened to his face? Where did he get his talking skull sidekick who can turn into a gun or a motorcycle? Am I supposed to hang fire playing this half-assed shooter while he doles out bits of backstory to the skull? And shouldn’t a talking skull who can turn into a gun or motorcylcle be less annoying? Why is Shadows of the Damned’s talking skull like some poorly written and half-heartedly voice acted Wheatley from Portal 2?
I don’t know whether Shadows of the Damned will end up going anywhere worthwhile, because after three acts of uninspired shootering, uninteresting characters, unimpressive graphics, and hit-or-miss-but-mostly-miss humor, I decided to play the game it wishes it was. And boy, does Bayonetta hold up.
2 stars
Xbox 360
